


No Such Thing As Accidents

by merr



Category: Stargate SG-1
Genre: Angst, Bottom!Jack, Bromance to Romance, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, First Time, First Time Bottoming, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Rough Sex, Sex In A Cave
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-09-02
Updated: 2014-07-11
Packaged: 2017-12-25 08:40:19
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 10,750
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/951035
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/merr/pseuds/merr
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>O'Neill and Jackson know well enough the domino effect -- and there's no such thing as accidents when it comes to the way their struggling relationship unfolds.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Jackson gasped in pain as O'Neill shoved him into the lockers hard enough to knock the air out of his lungs, "I told you that night that it never happened! What part of that don't you understand?!"

The bespectacled man doubled over, trying to catch his breath, lips swollen from hard kissing a moment ago now parting in shock. He could see O'Neill's fists clenched out of the corner of his vision, could almost hear the older man's heart pounding in his chest. When he caught enough breath to speak, he managed to get out, "I don't under... stand..."

He straightened a little at O'Neill's bark of laughter, "I've been through enough relationships to know how this is gonna turn out." Jackson looked up at the taller man's face, noting the bitterness in his voice, the flush of his neck and chest -- the fear.

He straightened his glasses, pushed his hair from his face and spoke softly, "Are you saying you'd want a relationship? Jack, I would be completely--" The next thing he knew, an explosion blossomed on his face, knocking his head back, dropping him to the floor. He cursed and cupped a hand over his nose, other hand instinctively scuttling about to find his glasses.

"Jack! What the--" He flinched as he heard boots scuffling and felt Jack's body come toward him, bracing for impact. He was still stiff as the colonel picked him up, barely relaxing as Jack sat him on the locker room bench. The older man's hands, hands that had fit Daniel's hips perfectly only two nights before, now lifted his face, almost roughly, and pressed a towel over his bleeding mouth and nose. His motions had been commanding, the matter-of-fact actions of a CO assessing damages, but his voice was something entirely else as he mumbled thickly, "I... I'm sorry."

Daniel moved his hands to hold the towel in place, peering over the rapidly-soaking fabric with hurt, ice-chip eyes: Jack's almost-black eyes met his for a second before darting away. The silence was near-deafening until the locker-room door opened -- Teal'c paused in the doorway, impassive face broken only by a single eyebrow lifting, "Why are you bleeding from your face, Daniel Jackson?"

Daniel turned his head and gave a muffled reply, "An accident." Teal'c turned his head the tiniest bit to look at Jack, who was staring down at the bench. Neither man spoke. Finally, the jaffa moved forward, offering a hand to Daniel, "You require medical attention." Jackson nodded, glanced over at O'Neill who still wasn't looking at either of them, and allowed Teal'c to help him up by the arm.

As the locker room door closed softly behind them, Jack slouched heavily on the bench, leaning over to rest his elbows on his knees and hanging his head. He counted one, two, three drops of Daniel's bright blood on the painted concrete and bit his tongue, hard.


	2. Chapter 2

The men crossed paths for the first time three days later. In fact, Jack almost knocked the the archaeologist over on his way into the base cafeteria and as the brunet steadied himself with hand flat against Jack's chest, his face was uncharacteristically stoic behind a black eye and stitched lip. Daniel snatched his hand back and Jack couldn't find the words, so they parted ways without any communication.

Now back home in his empty house, stretched out on the back porch swing with his first beer of the evening in hand, Jack sighed. He figured Daniel had been avoiding him, but was also man enough to admit he'd been staying reclusive himself. He'd done quite a bit of thinking in those three days -- everything from their first mission together to Abydos (which inevitably made him think of Sha're and Skaara) to the night he'd finally fucked up and spilled his guts to the younger man.

"I really don't think Teal'c and Carter are coming back in this rain," Jack grumbled, wringing his hat out at the edge of the outcropping. Daniel was shuffling dirt and debris around with his boot to make sure there weren't any immediate threats in the form of strange spiders or rodents; satisfied, he sat down heavily on a boulder.

"I think this pack weights 100 pounds more when it's wet."

O'Neill turned around, raising an eyebrow, "Well, I guess when you only weigh 100 pounds soaking wet in the first place, the added weight must be pretty rough."

Jackson rolled his eyes and slipped the pack off, letting it thump wetly to the ground, "Hah, hah. Excuse me for not being a militarily trained gorilla."

After squinting out into the downpour until he was certain no threat was looming, Jack walked over, set his rifle down and took his own pack off, setting it down much more quietly than Daniel had out of simple habit. He jerked his head back just a bit as Jackson peeled his soaked shirt off, revealing a pale but lightly defined stomach and chest. The brunette was shivering, clenching his teeth together as he leaned down to dig through his bag, muttering, "Sweater, sweater, long sleeve _anything..._ "

Jack peeled his fatigue top off and hung it over a boulder, leaving his undershirt on while he leaned into his bag and produced a small propane heatplate, chipping in helpfully: "Considering this is supposed to be a tropical climate, I doubt there's anything warm in there unless you packed it yourself."

Daniel rolled his eyes and ignored him so Jack set to his task, sitting on the floor of the outcropping to fiddle and clatter with his little project. Daniel made a happy noise and stood up with a long sleeve under-armor shirt -- then frowned as he realized 90% of the thing was soaking wet. When he heard the hiss of propane, he turned to Jack with a black tanktop in his hand and grinned at the tiny fire, kneeling across from him to get as close to it as possible, "Excellent! This should work pretty well -- did you know?..." The brunette chattered on happily about how it only took a candle to heat an entire car in a blizzard as he pulled the tanktop down over his head.

"Yeah, well, we don't need a civilian-candle for the cave, so don't get so close to the fire," O'Neill said lamely as he stood up, his pants feeling a bit tighter than normal from watching Jackson's stomach flex as he pulled the clothing on. Jack turned away and peeled off his own wet underfatigues and laid them out ontop of his jacket, willing his body to listen to him. He was a grown ass man, for shit's sake. A grown ass _straight_ man, for as long as he could recall, which was part of his growing frustration. He wasn't homophobic in the least -- but he was highly aware of the many aspects that made his growing affection toward Daniel completely inappropriate: his age, his rank (even if Jackson wasn't military), the fact that Daniel was still technically a married man...

Daniel pushed his glasses up and stared at Jack's back, watching the muscles interplay as he tugged a dry shirt over them. Awkward as usual when it came to non-alien contact, his mouth made a joke before he could filter it: "So, are we going to have to huddle together naked for warmth then, colonel?" When he saw Jack's shoulders stiffen, he mentally kicked himself -- he already knew he didn't exactly look masculine compared to the trained men on base and took care not to give anyone any reason for gossip. He'd always been the kind of man who was attracted first and foremost to the person inside the body; he'd had many different relationships in college and grad school before his PhD program completely engulfed him.

As an anthropologist, he knew that sexual orientation wasn't anyone else's business, especially in a military setting. As a man, his waning hope that Sha're could ever be recovered was giving way to the dark ink of loneliness. He'd been holding on to his sanity by fostering a growing emotional attachment to his fellow SG1 members: he and Sam had completely platonic coffee & a movie once a week and Daniel spent many hours playing ancient Egyptian games with Teal'c. He'd had a harder time connecting with O'Neill, but recently figured out a fail-safe: he'd asked Jack to be his gym buddy. It was awkward and painful at first, but once Daniel outran Jack's mile by a full minute, they'd had a bit easier time and met twice a week for lifting and cardio.

"You could always juggle some of these rocks if you're already bored enough to suggest an orgy," Jack leaned against the stone wall, opening a small ration of chocolate and biting off a mouthful. His expression was one Daniel recognized: it was the face he wore at the gym whenever they got near the treadmills. A challenge.

Daniel raised an eyebrow, mouth curled in the beginning of a grin, "Two people doesn't make an orgy... and anyway, why do I have to play alone while you stand there and eat chocolate? Why don't you throw the rocks _to_ me instead."

O'Neill pulled a face, hearing the return challenge. "Well, if you put it like that... alright, heads up Dr. Jackson!" He crouched down and picked up a lime sized rock, tossing it underhand at the younger man, to his left in case it caught him off guard. The archaeologist caught it and grinned at the colonel, dropping the rock to pick up one about twice the size.

Twenty minutes later, the two men were pouring sweat and a simple game had turned into a somewhat heated competition. Jack never picked up anything bigger than he thought Daniel could handle, never grabbing a stone larger than a softball, but the smaller the projectile was, the faster he threw it. Daniel had a couple bruises already, but he wasn't the only one: the colonel had some scuffed knuckles from mishandled catches as well -- which did more damage to his pride than anything else.

Jack grunted a bit as a baseball-seized rock clipped his fingertips and clattered out into the rain. Without thinking, he darted after it and made a surprised noise at the temperature of the persistent downpour. When he got back into the cave, he could hear Daniel gasping for breath, leaning against the wall to brace his hands on his thighs, laughing so hard his eyes watered, "Just... just a couple of monkeys... throwing rocks at each other... in a cave!"

Jack had to snort at that and set the stone down next to his pack, wiping his wet salt and pepper hair back across his scalp with both hands, "Well, there aren't a lot of options for entertainment right now, are there?"

Daniel pulled his tanktop up to his face, tucking it under his glasses for a second to wipe his eyes and take a deep breath, a small laugh bubbling up now and then as he tried to regain his composure. Jack, seeing the younger man's creamy stomach again followed by the hint of a dark pink nipple, clenched his teeth as the blood drained from his face. He put on what he hoped was his best command voice and raised the volume to drown out Daniel's gasping story about primitive sports, "Doctor Jackson. Stop that."

Daniel blinked, pausing with the hem of his clothing still in hand to look at Jack, "I'm... I'm trying. Heh. Ha!" He closed his eyes as another fit of giggles came up. He pulled his shirt up a bit further to muffle his laughter, leaning over, unable to make himself not enjoy how happy he felt in this moment, how that creeping ink seemed to be receding rapidly in the face of their ridiculous competition. His laughter hiccuped to a stop when Jack grabbed his hip with one hand, staring intently at him with those black eyes. Daniel was about to speak when Jack pushed his other set of callused fingertips up along the younger man's side and chest, skating them over his pectoral and out the collar of the tanktop to knot in the hair at the base of his skull. A split second passed, Jack and Daniel feeling one another's warm breath through slightly parted lips before O'Neill sealed them in an iron kiss.

Daniel gasped in surprise, then groaned into the taller man's mouth, quietly, letting his hands fall down to O'Neill's chest then wander to his sides, leading his hands over the abdominal muscles he so envied at the gym outlined by wet cotton -- to which Jack responded by pinning him against the wall none-too-gently, the colonel's erection hard enough to make Daniel's thigh ache just a bit. As Jack's tongue rolled against his, Daniel marveled at the taste, his nerves hissing and snapping with electricity and a desire for more. He'd rarely let the thought cross his mind, used to pushing away attractions to men before, but now that Jack was this close, larger than life and stealing his oxygen, all Daniel could want was _more._ The brunette broke the kiss with effort, turning his face to gasp into the junction of Jack's shoulder and throat, "Jesus, Jack..."

He felt Jack's grip loosen in his hair and surprised them both by locking his arms around the airman's neck, pushing his back against the wall to gain leverage, "Don't you dare let go of me now." The unexpected animal desire in O'Neill's eyes recognized itself mirrored in Daniel's as the younger man surged forward, bringing their foreheads together and rolling his hips once, twice against Jack's heat, "Don't you dare."

O'Neill used the leverage of the wall to prop Jackson up as he undid the smaller man's belt, opening his fatigue bottoms to wrap a large, callused hand around Daniel's prick, stroking him firmly a couple times. He stared at the smooth cream-colored stomach, touching Daniel as he would himself and being driven further and further into the animal need to be _inside_ by the low keening and mumbled encouragement he could just hear over the pouring rain.

"Daniel. I want to... I--" 

It took Jack's breath away, the look of undiluted desire on Daniel's face when he interrupted the older man, "Yes! Yes. Please, I -- ah fuck." Daniel pushed his fatigues down, stepping out of them in impressive time. As he was straightening up, he froze; the bulge in Jack's fatigues made his face flush and his mouth water. He reached for the older man's belt, dragging his lower lip through his teeth, "Jack -- I want to -- ah!" 

Jack took his turn interrupting by hiking Daniel up, into his arms, pushing the younger man's legs to grip around his torso and pinning him to the wall. He held Daniel with his left arm, reaching his right down to undo his own belt and fatigues. He then brought his right hand up, touching two fingers to his lips; Daniel sucked them for a couple moments, face turning crimson with equal parts embarrassment and anticipation, curling his tongue around the callused digits. Jack groaned at the feeling, withdrawing after a moment to rub in gentle but firm circles around Daniel's entrance. He and Sarah had tried anal a couple times, but her eyes had always been distrustful, closed off -- Daniel gripped the back of his neck, rocking his hips slightly, his eyes glittering, intelligent and open when Jack pushed one finger, then a second, inside. That look... fuck, it drove him _wild_. He withdrew his hand, spit into it and stoked himself twice before aligning himself, grating out, "Danny, are you sure?" 

Daniel answered with his body, shoving himself down onto Jack's cock and gasping out loud, "Ah! Oww, oh, damn..." He'd only managed to force Jack halfway in but he managed to break the deathgrip the colonel been holding on his last vestige of self-control. Jack drove into him the rest of the way, slowly, unrelenting but observant, gripping Daniel's hips hard enough that they would later bruise. 

Daniel gave out a low moan, biting at Jack's shoulder, murmuring over and over, "Yes, oh yes, yes..." Daniel hadn't touched or been touched in over a year -- he couldn't bring himself to sleep with strangers, no matter how lonely he felt, and the Stargate program made it nearly impossible for him to connect with other people the way he had his teammates. He tipped his chin up, watching Jack's face through half lidded eyes: the older man's jaw clenched and unclenched in an unpredictable rhythm, his eyes closed tightly. When he was fully seated inside Daniel, his eyes rolled open and he looked down at the brunet, "You. Feel. Fucking amazing." Daniel pushed his lips half-way against Jack's and murmured, "Then stop talking and fu-ah!"

Jack kissed him hard, pulling nearly completely away and then giving no quarter as he drove all the way back into the other man, establishing a rhythm that a bystander may well have described as brutal. Daniel matched the rhythm with deep satisfaction edged in pain; he'd always had a hunger now and then for walking that edge. Jack, temples starting to darken with sweat, adjusted his grip on the smaller man's waist and unknowingly shifted angles just right to hit his prostate. The feeling electrified and petrified Daniel at the same time, his back arching, his body rigid and twitching as Jack continued to fuck him into oblivion, knowing instinctively that the shout was one of excellent agony.

Jack shifted on the porch swing, embarrassed of the erection the memory had given him, and took another swig of his now-warm beer. He wrinkled his nose and set the bottle down, muttering to himself, "I gotta talk to him. I can't let him think..." Think what? That he didn't want him? That he didn't want a relationship? Jack rubbed his face, scratching at his stubble and staring out into the back yard. He glanced at the mostly-full brown bottle, nodded and stood up, reaching for his car keys.


	3. Chapter 3

Daniel was sitting on the balcony overlooking the apartment complex's courtyard, nursing a mug of coffee. He'd had trouble sleeping the past few nights and knew that coffee wouldn't help -- but he wanted the comfort of something warm, familiar and safe. He took a small drink, giving himself an equally small grin of chiding. _Yeah, so, you need to hide away once in a while, but how long are you going to mope? Exactly what were you expecting?_

He couldn't get the look Jack had given him earlier that day out of his head. Neither could he force himself to forget how warm and firm O'Neill's pectoral had been when he'd steadied himself... he pressed his palm a bit tighter to the lukewarm mug as a pang of something too close to sadness shot through him. The eyes. They had been so cold compared to the older man's chest. Daniel had no illusions about the Don't Ask, Don't Tell protocols, but it stills stung more than he'd thought it would.

Daniel shook his head before taking another drink and crossing his legs in the bowl of his favorite papasan chair. He'd been shocked but infinitely more than pleased by their unexpected connection in the downpour offworld. He was far from longing after Jack like a love-truck teenager, but the slow, heavy longing of a grown man seemed somehow harder to bear. Every turn held a logical facet of him, raising an eyebrow and stating facts that he didn't want to hear: Jack had a lot to lose from this, namely, his lifelong career. Daniel'd buried the spark of desire as deep as he could, even as far back as Abydos, not to forget but to protect himself. Or, at least, that's what he'd been telling himself before that night. 

It wasn't the first time he'd been attracted to a straight male -- personalities, no matter what body they lived inside of, were the root of Daniel's affection to other people. It just happened that sometimes, those men weren't on the same page, and it was always relatively easy for Daniel to let the attraction slide. The difference was that he'd never respected nor trusted any of those men _nearly_ as much; Jack was, for all intents and purposes, the bravest man Daniel had ever known; not just with his physical actions, but also in his day-to-day operations. Jack never wavered, waffled or gave leeway to himself and was always willing to do what it took to get done what needed to be accomplished.

The night in the cave had been rough, quick and hands-down the most satisfying sex Daniel could remember having in his entire life. The part of his heart that still held out hope for Sha're twinged at the thought, but there was something different about how Daniel'd felt, locked in Jack's arms, back bruising against the cave wall, than any night he'd spent with Sha're. The strength of Jack's body, driving into his... it was like being in the eye of a hurricane but knowing that the storm would never let him slip away into danger.

Daniel blinked hard at the stinging in his eyes and brought a hand up quickly to rub them, forgetting his bruised orbital and cursing at himself. He was still moping and he hated it. He leaned forward as if to get up, his chest hitching, and promptly spilled half of his coffee on his lap. He hissed and grabbed a blanket, trying to wipe the liquid away, laughing tightly between hiccups of tears. "Jesus, Daniel, get it together..."

He tried, damn it, he really did, but once a dam like that cracks, there's not a lot of hope for Composure Town in the valley below. He pushed the firm fingertips of one hand against his eyes, his ears rushing as tears streamed down his face interspersed with short, bitter gasps. He gripped the handle of the coffee cup, vision too blurred to see his jerking arm splashing coffee everywhere. _Jesus, Daniel, stop it, stop. You still have your life's work, you still have the Stargate, be happy you're not kicked from the team._ A quieter part of his mind piped up: _Yes... but what good is your life's work if it doesn't keep your heart company anymore?_

The loud knocking at his door pierced his misery and made him freeze -- it was 9 in the evening on a Friday and he hadn't made plans. Doing a quick mental checklist, he eliminated the possibilities: Teal'c and Carter were going on their second date, he had an autodraw set up for his rent each month and his book club didn't meet for another two weeks. His eyes widened as his breath whooshed out in a name and he scrabbled out of the papasan, slamming his mug down on the small table beside him. 

"Daniel, I know you're in there -- we need to talk."

He glanced down at himself, muttering a curse -- coffee-soaked Yoda pajama pants, old grey tanktop, ratty brown hoodie. His face blanched as Jack knocked again, softer this time, "Some tiny old woman down the hall is going to _kill_ me with her eyes in about ten seconds here..."

Daniel groaned: Mrs. Phora watched her grandbaby on the weekends and was hell on house-slippers if anyone woke the colicky child up after she managed to get him to sleep; Daniel'd gotten her curt knocks on two separate occasions laughing too loudly with Carter.

"Yeah, just... stop banging and hold on a minute." He scurried, for lack of a more dignified action, to his bedroom and ripped the pajama pants off to tug on a pair of cargo shorts before heading to the door, forcing himself to walk, take a few breaths and calm his heart. Wiping his face with one hand, he undid the chain latch as quietly as possible with the other and opened the door, stepping aside to let the colonel in, "She watches her grandson and he's a difficult baby, that's all."

Jack had been standing awkwardly, hands stuffed in his pockets, hat and sunglasses firmly in place, and now stepped into the apartment, slipping his shoes off out of habit, "I'd be curious to know how she disposes of so many bodies... she's possibly the smallest murderer I've ever seen."

Daniel actually barked out a laugh, some of the pent up tension leaving him, then snapped his mouth shut and closed the door quickly behind the two of them, "Shhh!" He raked his hand through his hair, pushing it away from his face, "And, for the record, my money's on vats of acid."

It was Jack's turn to laugh this time, grinning as he pulled his sunglasses off and tucked them into the throat of his shirt. He pulled his hat off and glanced at Daniel, freezing: the brunet's eyes were rimmed in red, lashes still stuck together into dark arrows that wasted no time homing in on Jack's conscience.

Daniel glanced up at Jack for a split second and broke away, his smile folding up as he saw that cold look again. He rubbed the back of his neck, stepping back, "So... You wanted to talk?" He didn't flinch when Jack reached over and cupped his jaw, firmly, tipping his face up to look at the damage. 

"Danny... Christ. It looks even worse close up," Jack growled at himself, gripping Daniel's jaw a bit more in his frustration, causing the smaller man to grab his wrist, pushing it down and away from his face.

"Jack! Damn..." He rubbed his chin gently, tapping the three stitches on his lip carefully to make sure they hadn't burst. "I got the point at the SGC, you didn't need to come here and drive it home like this." His eyebrows were knit together at the center, blue eyes glinting as he turned away and stalked out of the entry way and into his living room. Crossing his arms, he turned around, back to one of his many bookshelves as he glared at O'Neill. It had felt so natural there, for a split second, laughing about his irritable neighbor... but then those cold fucking _eyes_ , black as dirt, cold. 

Jack stood, rooted on the spot, clenching his fists and jaw until he could feel the bones aching. His eyes went flatter as he berated himself for hurting the already wounded object of his -- yes, long hidden, yes, completely surreal, but still unconditionally _sincere_ \-- affections. "I'm here to clear this mess up, Daniel," He was hesitating, his voice was coming out snappier than he meant it to. _Fuck, fuck, this is not going well._

A breath of disbelief wooshed out of Daniel and he pointed at first Jack, then himself as his emotions barreled over him through the same wound that had him bawling minutes before, " _Mess?!_ " The archaeologist had hoped for a minute that... maybe... but no. "...I'm not an _idiot_ \-- I know exactly what you want and I'm _trying_ , dammit!" Jack jerked his jaw as if Daniel'd slapped him and then his body was in motion, hesitation completely evaporating.

Daniel paled as Jack jerked and stalked toward him, the older man's mouth set in a grim line, jaw muscles jumping under his gunmetal stubble. The archaeologist backed up, bumping into the bookshelf which rocked a (lucky for him, hollow) globe off the top shelf. He grunted as the cherry wood base clipped him on the shoulder on its way to smash over the floor. Daniel stood up straighter, his anxiety at O'Neill's stance and his wild current of emotions carrying his voice up another few decibels, his eyes flooding with liquid again: "What? _What?!_ Gonna come knock me out again?! _You_ \--"

There was a brief scuffling as Jack grabbed Daniel by the upper arm, clamping his other hand over the younger man's black and purple lips. Daniel punched the colonel sloppily in the side and ribs, which made the older man grunt but not loosen his grip, tears clipping out of wild blue eyes all the while. Jack turned Daniel in his arms, trying as hard as he could to keep Daniel's mouth covered without bursting wound he'd given him. He locked his other arm down around the brunet's waist, crossing it up over his chest and holding firm, like a steel band.

"Daniel, Danny! _Please,_ calm down. Listen to me -- ow!" Jack grunted as Daniel managed to slam his heel into the weaker of the colonel's knees, dropping them both to the floor with a slam and clatter that probably woke the super three floors down. Gasping in pain but not letting go, Jack was whispering fiercely into the younger man's ear, "I know, _I know,_ I'm sorry, I know you're mad, I know you're hurt and I'm sorry." 

Daniel, shocked quiet by having knocked the larger man off his feet, stared up at the ceiling, feeling Jack's chest heave against his back, listening to the colonel's voice -- he'd only heard it this thick before once, that night offworld... Daniel's eyes widened and grasped Jack's wrist, holding it as he realized that he'd been misinterpreting so many things, so badly.

"Mister Jackson!" Three sharp raps on his door. "Mister Jackson! You wakeup my grandson, again! No more, no more or I'll be very unhappy!" 

Daniel pulled on Jack's wrist, gently, and the former Black Ops soldier let go, cringing.

"Yes, Mrs. Phora! I apologize, it won't happen again! Quiet as a mouse!"

Both men heard her sniff and mutter as she stalked back down the hall: "Better be so, or I'll be quiet as the cat _hunting_ the mouse!"

Daniel moved to get up and Jack let him, staying where he was sprawled on the floor and throwing one forearm over his eyes as he massaged his knee with his other hand. "Sorry for getting your name added to the hitlist," he tried to joke, his voice still thick and roiling with what Daniel now recognized as conflicted emotion. 

"Jack, you..." He murmured in fascination.

Jack grunted and sat up, rubbing at his kneecap with both hands now, nodding, "I know. I deserve whatever you're going to say. I just... I want you to hear me out. Okay? Just don't say anything, don't get ahead of me."

Daniel wanted very much to speak, to stop him before he said anything, but he sat rooted on the spot instead, feeling himself comply to Jack's heartfelt request when he'd always had no problem ignoring the man's orders in the field.

"I'm not a very smooth guy, Daniel. You can ask Sarah about that. ...I mean... I mean, no. I don't want to talk about that. What I meant to say... I... shit, I don't..." He shook his head, his hands pausing on his leg, and looked up at Daniel, black eyes staring directly and openly: "Listen. I... punched you because I was afraid. Of how easy it is to trust you, how easy it was to want to please you. How much I want to do those things. How much I..." He stopped, sighing tersely, not seeing or hearing a single reaction from Daniel.

The archaeologist was frozen in place, heart pounding with joy, with a bursting desire to hold Jack's face and kiss his eyebrows, his cheeks, his chin, to hold him so tight they'd both have trouble breathing. The words came out of Daniel's mouth in perfect timing to finish Jack's sentence: "...love you."

Jack grimaced and looked down, hands twitching back into motion over the deep, throbbing ache in his joint, "Yeah. I know sometimes things happen offworld, and that it's not always, y'know, what we really -- ow! Hey!"

Daniel pushed the colonel back onto the carpet, kneeling over his stomach and grabbing his face between his two trembling hands, "No, Jack, you enormous moron! You absolute _idiot_! I feel the same way, you-- you--"

Daniel kissed him, hard, the pain in his face a drop of cold water against the super nova of joy unfolding in his chest. Jack was shocked still for a moment and then returned the kiss, gently, hands cradling the back of the skull that housed the man he so needed in his life. When he felt Daniel's tongue swipe curiously across his, he pulled their lips apart to murmur, "Hey, watch those stitches." Daniel made a face, about to complain, then noticed how wet and concerned Jack's eyes looked.

"...Alright, Jack, okay. For now," Daniel grinned, feeling buoyant as though he'd come up for air after nearly drowning. 

Daniel got up nimbly, still causing the colonel to wince slightly at the pain in his leg, and disappeared into the kitchen. Daniel was digging in the freezer as he spoke: "I'll get you some ice, I should have a pack in here somewhere; I didn't think your knees were that weak, I mean, all the marching we do and you never complain--"

"Daniel!" 

The brunet was chattering happily, which did more to soothe Jack more than any icepack could and he couldn't help but smile as the brunet peeked his head around the corner. He'd heaved himself up onto Daniel's couch and stretched his sore leg out, "My knees aren't _weak,_ you got _lucky._ And... make that an icepack and a beer?"

Daniel laughed, putting the icepack over one shoulder and grabbing two bottles of Red Hook out of the fridge, his voice warm: "But I thought you didn't believe in luck or accidents?"


	4. Chapter 4

Daniel felt like he'd just downed six shots of espresso as he walked from the kitchen back into the living room -- felt like he could scale a mountain, run down the other side and make short work of swimming the Atlantic. A small part of him piped up half-heartedly: _Remember how you're not a teenager anymore? You need to take this slow..._ A smarmy grin burst out over his face: he may not have been a teenager, but he _was_ getting more hormonal by the minute.

He set the beers on the side table and crouched next to Jack, setting the ice pack on his knee, "Here -- you hold this and I'll get your boots."

As Daniel moved to his knees and scooted down to unlace Jack's boot, the other man opened his beer and took a solid swig. A relieved voice in Jack's head was bouncing off the walls of his skull, whooping and pumping a fist in the air to celebrate the discovery that Daniel didn't completely hate him. He'd always known the younger man was the poster child for resilience, but seeing it in action still made Jack's head spin a bit in pleased surprise. The brunet cursed good-naturedly at the flat-grey laces in his hands, chattering a mile a minute: "Jesus, Jack -- did you superglue these in place? I don't know if they'll even -- aha! Got it. So, anyway, we should keep your leg elevated, at least for a little--"

Jack found himself suddenly absorbed in those same hands: slender, dexterous fingers pulling laces from silver boot hooks, tugging the tongue away from his foot to slip the first boot off. The colonel took another drink of his beer, taking advantage of Daniel's distraction to study the younger man's face as well: warm color back in his cheeks, long hair ghosting over full, smiling cheekbones. Jack's stomach twisted as he spied cobalt blue eyes still red-rimmed from crying even though the framing of dark eyelashes were beginning to dry.

"Daniel?"

"-- that it was unlike you to be so violent like that. ...Well, I mean on base, with a teammate, at least; it was almost like when you were Touched and I said I was Sam's friend --"

" _Daniel._ "

The brunette rubbed one eye absently, salty eyelashes itching to spring apart, and then blinked up at Jack, bangs messy and hands ghosting back to the last stubborn knot: "Yes...?"

"What was all --" The colonel gestured to the shattered porcelain globe and the bookshelf behind it, "-- _that_ about?"

Daniel looked back down at the task in his hands, picking at a couple imaginary dust specks before wetting his lips and pushing his glasses up with one hand. He glanced at Jack over the gold-colored rims sheepishly: "I... Uh, that. Yeah, sorry about that."

Jack made his 'you still didn't answer my question' face and Daniel went back to untying the older man's boot, trying to pretend like he hadn't seen the expression. O'Neill was having none of it though and swung his legs to the side of the couch just as the archaeologist got the laces fully free. 

Daniel opened his mouth to protest but snapped it shut when Jack reached out to grip his shoulders, "Daniel. You're dodging my question." A tongue flicking across lips, a creeping pink up cheekbones as Daniel refused to meet his eye. Jack felt his heart squeeze in his chest. "Do you-- was it... I mean, are you afraid, now? Of me?"

The often-grim line of Jack's mouth never betrayed anything to Daniel in the first few weeks he knew the man and it had rattled him. He remembered how the other military men had been fairly... outspoken... toward him but Jack never even flinched when people challenged him or when Murphy's law started kicking their collective asses in earnest. He clearly remembered staring at Jack's stiff back as the colonel armed the bomb; remembered the sound of his voice when he'd said that he would stay on Abydos to make sure it detonated, that Daniel had seven minutes to get back to Earth. It wasn't until Daniel'd picked up Sha're's corpse that he saw real emotion in Jack's face -- a flicker of it as he begged the soldier to wait for him. 

Clearest of all from the early days, though, he recalled being dazzled by Jack's smile as the airman admitted to thinking he'd be okay, just before he'd disappeared into the event horizon. Now, seeing the stark expression on Jack's face, Daniel was grateful he'd learned the man a bit better over time: he could see that he wasn't the only one who'd been misreading signals. 

"You think I'm scared of you now. Because you hit me."

Jack cringed, letting go of Daniel's arms to sink into the couch, "Ah... yeah. Or at least that you don't trust me to not... do it again. I mean, you don't normally get so loud and... sweary?" As the colonel finished lamely, Daniel surged forward, planted his hands on either side of Jack's head and kissed him with enough force to make the airman huff in protest, "Your stichmpf--"

Daniel crowded closer, rising only to position long legs into kneeling over Jack's lap. It relieved a little bit of the pressure off his stitches, sure, but also gave him better access when the colonel groaned. The younger man took full advantage and Jack's head swam as Daniel's tongue surged against his. 

His thoughts were racing as he reached up one hand to card his fingers through Daniel's hair. _I don't want to rush this, I didn't come here to... to..._ The look on Daniel's face just after Sha're'd rendered the brunet stupid with that last kiss around the fire on Abydos popped into Jack's mind's eye as the end of his thought. Daniel'd looked so _absorbed_ in the kiss, as completely absent from his surroundings as he was completely present in his wife's arms. Jack's hands had twitched with desire and guilt back then, too, and his body echoed the motion in the present. Daniel jerked in his lap a bit as the semi-fresh bruise on one hip twinged under the airman's hand.

Jack reached down, tugging the waist of Daniel's shorts down to peer at the bruises, his eyebrows furrowed. The classic O'Neill wince claimed his face and he snagged his hand away from Daniel's flesh, about to berate himself.

Before he could say anything, though, the younger man grabbed his hand and put it back in place on his hip, "Stop beating yourself up -- it felt amazing. Well... aside from less than ideal lubrication... but I don't _like_ being treated like I'm made out of glass, Jack." He squeezed Jack's hand, leaning closer to murmur humidly into the colonel's ear, "And I'm not, despite what everyone seems to think. Made of glass, that is." 

Jack blinked long and hard at the rush of desire Daniel's breath had called up in him. _Focus, O'Neill. A little self control is in order this time, dammit._ He opened his eyes, gripped Daniel's shoulders and forced enough space between them so he could think half-way coherently, "I had no idea what I was doing, Daniel. I... even if I did, I know you're covered in bruises. I didn't mean for it to be like that." 

The archaeologist pushed his own hair away from his face then crossed his arms over his chest, trying to force himself to focus just long enough to soothe Jack. His erection had other ideas but he simply adjusted himself so it was less pinched by fabric and pushed his glasses up a bit before asking matter-of-factly: "Have you ever been with another man before me?"

Jack's face flushed, both at seeing Daniel readjust himself and the question. He let go of Daniel's shoulders to scratch at his scarred eyebrow, "Ah... not so much, no." A small grin started on the archaeologist's mouth and Jack couldn't help but be reminded of the Cheshire cat. He also couldn't help starting to babble a bit -- about trying it with his ex-wife, about how she'd said it hurt too much even though they'd gone through half a bottle of lube, about how he'd never even been all the way inside her. Daniel put a hand up and Jack, suddenly realizing he'd been rambling, snapped his mouth shut. 

Daniel curled the hand into a loose fist and pressed his thumbnail against his lower lip, tucked his chin down and glanced over his glasses at Jack after a moment of thought, "Jack. You know that I'm a grown man, right? That just because you've got a decade or so on me doesn't mean you're automatically taking advantage of me?"

Jack's chin jerked back, "That's -- I mean, I'm your _commanding officer_ , Daniel. It's technically harassment."

Daniel waved a hand dismissively, "I'm not military."

"But _I_ am. If I got court marshaled, I'd go insane knowing you're still 'gating offworld without me."

A pause, then more of that Cheshire grin. "...I think that's the sweetest thing you've ever said to me."

Jack's throat clicked as he swallowed helplessly. Daniel let one hand drop to Jack's chest, then the other, just feeling for his heartbeat. When he found it, he closed his eyes, a small happy noise sounding in his throat before he murmured, "I don't think that's everything, is it?" Jack wet his lips and huffed a breath out to which Daniel responded by opening one eye to peek at him, his smile turning into a full-fledged grin, "What is it, Jack? What else has you so nervous?"

The older man shifted, feeling almost dizzy with such an overload of unhurried and uninterrupted intimate contact with the man in his lap. He swallowed again, glanced up at Daniel, then shrugged and dropped his head back onto the couch, voice gravelly, "I... I don't know."

Daniel bit back a moan, feeling his prick twitch and start to downright _ache_. There was something insanely hot about seeing hardass flyboy O'Neill at a loss for a cut-and-dried solution. He leaned in, pressing his body to Jack's, knotting one hand in silver and letting the other hang over the back of the couch as he murmured, "You didn't think it would turn out like this."

A statement in that little voice that sometimes made Jack want to knock him into a wall... or grab him and kiss the breath out of him. Jack clenched his jaw and let his hands move across the upholstery just enough to rest against Daniel's knees; it was all the answer he could manage.

Daniel tugged down at the back of Jack's hair, slowly, firmly, until the other man's neck was bared, sable eyes flashing at him for a moment before rolling shut again. The small flutter of instinctual alarm at Jack's equally instinctual split-second glare of threat assessment put an even sharper edge on Daniel's desire. He reached down, between them, feeling for Jack and then palming him through worn denim while murmuring, "Do you trust me, Jack?" 

A groan; strong hands cupping the back of his thighs just above his knees, tightening there. Daniel kissed him then, an answering groan bubbling up out of throat as he bit Jack's lower lip in frustration. 

Jack's hands slipped a couple inches more up the back of the younger man's thighs and Daniel only redoubled the kiss for a moment before scrambling back, pulling the dazed colonel to his feet and panting, "Let me prove that you didn't hurt me. That you showing up here tonight was a very good idea. That _we're_ a very, _very_ good idea."

Pinned with those eyes and feeling his bottom lip start to swell slightly from the force of Daniel's affection, Jack gathered what wits he could and nodded, expressive face open and pupils blown wide.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy Birthday AAF~~ <3 :D I edited past chapters a bit and whipped up the last one! I know you have a thing for Alpha!Jack (hear hear!) but you've given me the confidence to experiment! :)

Daniel drew away, pulled Jack to his feet and then kneeled down, tugging at the boot Jack'd refused to let him remove moments ago. Bracing himself with a hand on Daniel's shoulder, the older man lifted his foot -- and hissed in a breath when Daniel nuzzled against his groin.

Daniel tossed the boot to the side before locking his hands on Jack's hips, stilling him so he could press his cheekbone firmly against the tantalizing hardness, murmuring the older man's name. Jack answered breathlessly, both hands holding onto Daniel's shoulders; he still couldn't quite touch down with the reality of the situation. 

After a small rumble of laughter, the younger man moved deft hands to the fly of Jack's jeans, slipping the steel button free, tugging slowly and steadily at the zipper, "Don't be afraid to hold onto me, yeah?"

Jack blinked, about to ask a question, but let the words go as Daniel palmed him, twisting his wrist in a careful, tantalizing grip as he freed him from dark grey briefs. Shivers raced up from Jack's hips to the top of his scalp, then cascaded back down in a shower of sparks as the silver haired man bit back a groan.

Daniel kept touching him, admiring, quietly speaking as he did so: "You don't believe in casual sex, do you? I don't know a lot about your personal life, really, even after all this time, which is strange... but you don't seem the type. How long since someone's touched you like this, Jack?"

Sable eyes rolled open, gazed down as he replied hazily, "Never."

Blue eyes, jumping up; surprised voice, "No one's ever given you a handjob? Seriously?"

Jack's face flushed crimson at such a blatant description of what the other man was doing. Not just another man, though some of Jack's social baggage was screeching about that... but what _Daniel_ was doing to him.

The airman swallowed hard, voice coming out a bit hoarse, "No. I mean, yes. Just never so... careful."

That Cheshire smirk of Daniel's again, on the heels of a split-second irritated squint: "Well... at the risk of sounding cliche, their loss is my gain, I'd say."

Before Jack could formulate a dismissive comment about not needing gentle treatment, to remind the younger man (and himself) _me Jack, me soldier!_ , Daniel was curving that bubblegum pink tongue around the head of his prick. The older man only saw a split second of it but the image was enough to set his eyes clenching shut and the muscles in his thighs jumping. Daniel gave what could only be categorized as an appreciative hum and drew the airman deeper into his mouth, long fingers curling into place at the base.

Daniel felt a jolt of pleasure at both seeing and feeling Jack's trimmed salt-and-pepper pubic hair against the side of his hand and pulled back, licking his lips surreptitiously before saying, "I've wondered what you tasted like for a long time... definitely worth the wait."

Jack reflexively drew a hand off Daniel's shoulder, covering his face with it as he groaned in an equal mix of arousal and embarrassment. He wobbled on his feet a bit when Daniel stood up to pull the hand away and was caught within a moment by those baby blues as the younger man demanded, "Tell me what you're thinking, Jack."

Jack held his breath then let it out in a whoosh, "I, uh..." He pulled his top lip through his teeth, trying to find words but ended up shrugging helplessly. The grin Daniel gave him made his heart thump. He squirmed a bit as the younger man examined him, savored the flush across his face, the way his chest heaved just a bit as he tried to find words.

Just as Jack was about to say something, Daniel slipped his hand around one of the other man's clever wrists and started leading them toward the bedroom. Grabbing his open pants in his free hand and following with a slight limp, Jack tried to drive out the self-critical thoughts that popped into his head: his age, his damages, his misplacement here in Daniel's apartment.

Daniel turned abruptly and crowded Jack up against the door frame of his bedroom, hot mouth dipping low to nip a line from Jack's shoulder through his shirt all the way up to the lobe of one ear. Once there and having dragged a small grunt of appreciation out of his prey, the younger man murmured, "I can _hear_ you trying to retreat into your head, Jack; stop it or I'll stop it for you..."

Jack's back stiffened for a split second, hands moving up to push Daniel away. When the archaeologist didn't move, Jack gave a low growl, "Daniel..."

Daniel planted one hand on the wall next to the door frame, past Jack's shoulder, and used the other to pin Jack in place, "Yes, Jack?" His voice was low, stubborn and moist against the soft flesh at the crux of the other man's jaw and earlobe.

Jack's body shuddered, a slight twinge of pain from his knee cranking the contrast on his pleasure way up. He was unfamiliar with being pinned much of _anywhere_ by _anyone_ and it was disconcerting... but not as foreign and disconcerting as the fact that Jack felt himself enjoying it.

Daniel waited for a couple moments for an answer before pulling back just enough to stare Jack in the face: "Were you sexually assaulted in that POW camp?"

Jack jerked with the question like he was slapped and cracked the back of his head on the doorframe. Anger started welling up in him as the new pain spread forward toward his face, "What the _hell_ kind of _question_ is _that_?"

Daniel stared him straight in the eyes, unfliching, unmoving, "One that I need the answer to, Jack."

Jack huffed and moved again to push Daniel off him, twisting his torso to dislodge Daniel's hand; the younger man just shifted them up against the corner where the hallway and door way met, physically trapping Jack.

Pissed off but undeniably thrilled at the same time, Jack bristled and growled lowly, "Daniel..."

The younger man brought one hand to the back of Jack's neck and stroked the soft silver hair there, murmuring firmly but quietly, "I'm not going to hurt you, and I'm not going to let you go until you answer me. I know you think it's a stupid gamble for me to corner you like this but _I_ know that you won't hurt me now that you've got nothing to hide."

Jack swallowed hard, struck silent by the reality of that statement, as well as how his body calmed almost against his will at the motions of the gentle hand, "I... no. No, I wasn't. There. Happy?"

Relief washed through Daniel and he stepped back, just a bit, to take Jack's face in his hands, palms pressed against the hard line of a stubborn jaw, "Good. I... had to know that. I wanted you to know I knew the answer, too. Either way."

Jack's scowl was dark and not a little irritated, "Not exactly what I'd call pillow talk, Daniel."

The younger man gave a small shrug and dropped his hands to the middle of the other man's chest, applying pressure there, "It's relevant."

Jack's knee was throbbing worse than ever at mention of the POW camp. _Damn you, Danny..._ He brought his hands up, took a firm hold of Daniel's head and kissed him, hard, delving deeply to taste his tongue, his gums, flick across the smooth fronts of his teeth. Daniel's groan moved in time with his hips, pressing closer to Jack and as the airman was just about lost in the sensations again when Daniel broke the kiss to maneuver them into his half-lit bedroom.

Jack sat down clumsily as the backs of his thighs hit the edge of the mattress. Daniel was infront of him, getting onto his knees with zero effort -- Jack was about to comment but fell silent, watching, as Daniel pulled his hoodie and shirt off, a small crease of concentration furrowing his brow. The brunet pushed his bangs out of his eyes and dipped his head and shoulders down, pushing Jack to rest supine on the comforter while he divested him of his pants and underwear.

Jack gripped the bottom hem of his shirt, pulling it over his head with no little effort. As he adjusted his dogtags so they weren't hanging half in his armpit, Daniel rested the heels of his hands in the crease of his hips and leaned low, taking one, long swipe at Jack's somewhat waned erection.

It was back full force by the time Jack's hands closed on the younger man's upper arms, face flushed as sweat beaded at his temples, "Danny, you -- uhh..." Jack squeezed, fingers digging into muscle as Daniel licked his lips and slowly swallowed him down, neon eyes clipping up for a moment before he lost himself in tasting, swirling his tongue, teasing and humming in satisfaction now and then.

Jack let his hands loosen, skimmed them up over Daniel's wide shoulders, touching his throat for a split second -- the muscles working there make sparks go off behind his eyes -- then ran them over and through the younger man's hair, again and again. It was hard for him to let go, to let himself make noise; Daniel, however, took a few moments here and there to say something surprisingly intimate, carefully dirty and, sometimes, just straight up praise.

Whatever barrier had been erected in front of Jack's ability to verbalize freely crumbled a bit when his hands tightened in Daniel's hair to pull him off, gasping, "Careful -- I need a break -- I --"

Daniel shook his head, murmuring thickly, "I want to taste you, Jack, let me, I want to know..."

Jack brought his hands up to cover his face, lower back arching up off the bed as he groaned, his mind a swirl of embarrassment and worry: "If you -- I won't be able to -- ah!"

He gave a short gasp, hips trying to follow Daniel automatically as the younger man pulled off him, a grin on his face, "Be able to fuck me? Did we already decide who was bottoming here?" Jack cursed, Daniel laughed and stood up, undressed the rest of the way then crawled up the bed, over Jack's flushed body, "You really do look charming when you're embarrassed like this, you know."

Jack laced his hands behind his head, scowling up at Daniel. He didn't say anything -- they knew one another well enough to know that Daniel was _trying_ to irritate him -- and Daniel knew that Jack sometimes hit a point where he didn't want to play dumb anymore. The younger man leaned close, kissed the grumpy line of Jack's mouth for a moment before pushing their erections together, sliding upward carefully. When Jack gasped, he took the chance to kiss the colonel again, slowly tasting his lips, his mouth, snaking a hand between them to stroke them both simultaneously.

Jack's senses were utterly encompassed with the younger man. The scent of him was heavy in the air, the sheets; he could feel their precome, slickening Daniel's grip on them and it made him groan.

"Danny... I wanna taste..."

Daniel looked down at Jack, pupils blown wide, "Yeah? Here." Then Daniel's hand was at his lips and he was flicking his tongue out tentatively before he knew it. There was salt, bitter, _sex_... "Jesus, holy mother of--"

The low rumble of Daniel's laughter made Jack grab for him, holding on, leaning up for another kiss. The younger man met his mouth while reaching into the bedside drawer for a bottle of lube. He murmured against Jack's lips, echoing a question, "Do you trust me, Jack?"

The silver haired man grunted assent, growling at the loss of Daniel's mouth as he moved back to kneel between Jack's legs. The smoldering blue made his heart thud deeper in his ribcage.

Daniel's mouth curved in a slow, burning smile and he reached out to squeeze one of Jack's hips, "Good. If anything's not good, let me know, yeah? You're actually really quiet in bed, it's not what I expected but... it's pretty damn hot."

Jack huffed a bit, shooting back with a gravel voice, "Yeah, well, I'm not surprised you talk even _more_ in bed than you do out of it."

The younger man laughed and popped open the lube, pouring some into his hand and reaching down between them to push between Jack's legs, gently moving across his perineum, "I think you just get all hot and bothered from me talking dirty."

Jack's stomach clenched, goosebumps rising across his body at the strange sensation of Daniel's firm touch, "I don't know what I expected from someone who -- whoa! Damn... that's..." His hips jerked as Daniel pushed across his entrance, precise fingers finding their way expertly into Jack.

"It's what, Jack?" the other man prompted as he twisted and scissored, carefully adding another digit.

Jack was clutching at the sheets, sweat breaking out as he gasped, "It's... different. But... good, I think, really -- ah fuck!"

Daniel leaned in close, pushing against Jack's prostate again, rubbing it a few times and watching as Jack's chest hitched, trying for air, "I can bring you off like this, use my mouth too -- or I can show you how good it feels, do what you did so well for me..."

Jack felt like he was going to faint -- Daniel's voice and hands and body were turning the airman's world on its head. He tried to find words, really, he did, but his body got the message first and he pushed himself against Daniel's hand, gripping at the younger man's upper arm. Daniel mouthed up the side of Jack's neck, then kissed him stupid for what felt like an agonizing eternity before murmuring, "Let me know if something isn't working for you, yeah?"

Jack nodded, hands clutching to Daniel for a moment as he sat up, withdrawing his hand and lubing himself up. Jack reached out, in a haze, and palmed Daniel's prick; it dragged a gasp out of the brunet and Jack felt his body answer as Daniel pushed his hands up through Jack's chest hair before drawing one of the older man's legs up to kiss the sore knee. Jack swallowed hard, watching Daniel's dark eyes travel down from the knee to the observe as he began to sink into the colonel. Jack went silent, holding his breath and cinching his eyes shut -- then Daniel was nearly halfway in, holding still, mumbling sweet words down to his partner.

Jack let the breath out and rolled his hips experimentally, hands reaching to rest on Daniel's flushed skin. His eyes rolled open, sable, wide in surprise, as his body took more of the hardness, "Jesus, Danny -- feels --" Daniel smiled then, leaning closer, crunching Jack up just a bit to see his abdominals work as he slowly pushed home. Jack groaned as he felt the younger man's hips press against him, chest heaving just a bit from the overwhelming fullness, "I... ah, I... move? It feels -- it feels good when you -- hnng..."

Daniel reached down, gripping Jack and stroking him in lazy time with his slow, shallow thrusts. He let the older man gasp and writhe for a few moments before calling his attention, "Jack. Look at me."

The colonel blinked through stars and, to his horror, the beginnings of tears, to focus on Daniel's face, "Y-yeah?"

"I love you, Jack. I don't care if anyone knows it but _us_ but you have to believe me." He was picking up the pace, knowing he wouldn't last as long as he liked, seeing Jack broken open wide like this; he could feel the other man leaking into his hand, twitching and so hard it must hurt.

Jack gasped in assent, nodding his head dumbly -- he'd thought that this would make him feel somehow _less_ , being on the receiving end, but it proved to be years of misplaced societal attitude: Jack could see what it was doing to Daniel, how badly the other man had wanted this and was doing his best to make it perfect. The older man felt powerful, and vulnerable; indestructible but completely deconstructed. _I_ am _in love with him..._

"I -- ah, you, too; can't -- ah! -- can't imagine me without-out -- you..." Sarah had mentioned now and then that Jack never expressed himself enough; now, he couldn't seem to shut his mouth.

Daniel's breath hitched and he crowded Jack, trying to hold back from pounding him into the mattress, "Jesus, Jack, I --"

Jack felt himself spiraling down in a familiar pattern, his hips feeling like gravity'd been cranked up past eleven, "Fuck, Danny -- I want you to -- with --" Daniel couldn't hear that and hold on; he knelt back, gripped Jack's hips and hauled him closer, thrusting into him in earnest.

The second Jack's hands fell ontop of Daniel's, he came, hard, his voice collapsing in on itself in a quiet but drawn out groan. The sound, the sight, the sensations, all of it pushed Daniel after him, making the younger man come just as Jack's orgasm was tapering off. Jack was grateful for the timing -- he got to half-consciously observe Daniel as he came, mouth falling slightly open as he pushed deep into Jack and held there.

When the noise in Daniel's head fell from a full roar to a warm hum, he pulled out carefully and grabbed a discarded shirt, cleaning them both up. As he looked up, standing at the side of the bed with the shirt in hand, he froze, observing Jack: the older man had scooted up against the headboard, legs crossed at the ankle and hands folded behind his head. The smug look on his face made Daniel's heart swell.

"Danny. Get your ass back over here."

Daniel climbed over Jack's legs, settling in close, half under Jack's armpit and leaning against the older man's torso, "Sir, yes sir..."

Jack shook his head and dropped an arm down over Daniel's shoulders, using his other hand to push Daniel's sweat-darkened bangs away from his face, "So. Tell me, do you cook, too? What about laundry?"

Daniel turned his head and playfully bit Jack's closest pectoral, to which the older man responded by pulling him up and kissing him thoroughly on the mouth, "None of that until I know for sure you're up to date on your shots."

A snort, moment of silence, then a multifaceted reply in the form of a question: "Worth the gamble?"

Jack rolled his eyes, then smiled, scooting down to lay his head on a pillow, pleasantly exhausted. He pulled Daniel onto his chest, running a hand lazily through the younger man's hair: "Considering I've always believed in making my own luck... Hell. _Yes_."

Daniel's moment of warm silence and hard blinking brought Jack's hand up, almost automatically, and the soft swipe of callused knuckles across the younger man's wet temple was no accident.


End file.
